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Chapter 19

I couldn’t sleep that night. How could I sleep ever after that? Lying in my bed as the sun began to rise, I wondered what my family was doing right now. On a normal day, I would find my brother in the kitchen, with my mother helping him. Usually it is the son that helps the mother in the kitchen, but not my family. My mother was never really much of a cook. Otto would surely be running around somewhere, a smile plastered on his cheeks. He loved the morning. Something about the sun rising for a new day made the boy happy. My father was usually always home in the morning, before he left for work. So I would most likely find him napping on the couch. Not in his bed, but on the couch, with a book draped over his stomach. Aleksander would be the only person still asleep. But as soon as the clock hit 10:13, he would be up like a switch was flicked in his head. Hyper no doubt.

The more I began to think, the more I began to wonder what day it was. I wonder if Uncle Benny and Aunt Mona were there yet. Everybody loved Uncle Benny, and since Uncle Benny loved Mona, everybody loved her too. It was just something about the man that made you love him. A long scar reached over his left eyebrow that disappeared in his hairline, but everybody ignored it. All I knew about the scar was that it came from an accident he was in when he was around Aleksander’s age. I could tell it hurt my mother when she thought about, so I never questioned it further, even though I was curious. Aunt Mona was the sweetest woman I probably ever met. She had brown curly hair with golden high lights, and butternut scotch eyes. She also had this beautiful white smile. Her teeth were perfect.

They both had two kids, Kasey who was nineteen, and Julia was sixteen. I sometimes wished I were brother to them when I was younger. Kasey, who can sometimes be competitive, especially when it came to baseball, was laid back most of the time. My mother told me he was just like Uncle Benny when he was young. He never fought with Julia, who was always very serene. She always had a dreamy smile on her face and never said a bad thing about anybody. They were almost the complete opposite of my family. In my house it was always loud and chaotic with people running from room to room. It didn’t seem like it would be like that in their house.

They always came over for the Christmas holidays. Then we would all travel to my grandparent’s house. But after hearing what Aleksander had to say last night, I don’t see any of that happening. The daily breakfast scene to Christmas with my family, all began to fade in my head. Maybe I was wrong in thinking they would be better off without me.

“Elliot.” I sat up at the sound of my name, and watched as Thanos entered my room. “Good you are awake. Come with me.”

I removed the blankets off of me and slid out of my bed. Quietly, I walked behind Thanos as he led me down the hall. We began approaching the rooms Melody told me not to go into. Curiosity got the better of me and I had asked Melody why. Her response was a giggle and that the doors were locked and for good reason. I didn’t push the matter.

“I was wondering if you might be having second thoughts about staying here, Elliot.” Thanos said in a business matter. He had stopped in front of a door and turned to look down at me with his ice-cold eyes. I wondered if my eyes looked like that when I talked.

They frightened me the way he was looking at me so I responded with a reasonable answer, “No sir. I like it here.”

He gave me a stern nod and took out a brass key. Unlocking the door in front of us, I looked on, curious as to what he wanted to show me. Before he could open the door all the way, he said, “This is just in case, you begin to change your mind.”

What he showed me almost threw me off my feet. Lying on the hard concrete floor was a head with golden brown hair. Her eyes were shut tight and she was curled up in a fetal position. She was holding her wrist like it was hurt and I could tell she was trying to be strong, even though she wanted to break down. This wasn’t right.

“Why is she here? Why did you bring her here?” I hissed at Thanos. I surprised myself. Never in a million years did I imagine I would give him such a tone. But seeing my best friend lying on that damp ground made something in me snap.

“Elliot?” I watched as Loanna slowly opened her bottle green eyes. Guilt began seeping through my veins at the sight of her. But before I could say anything, Thanos shut the door.

“What are you doing? Let her out of there!” I shouted.

“If I were you, I would lower my tone. You have no authority here and trying my patience is not something I would advice you to do.” Thanos said darkly. I took a step back, not understanding why they would bring Loanna here.

“I meant no disrespect Tha-Thomas. I just…she’s my friend.” I said, almost slipping up on his name. I don’t think him knowing I know his true identity would be a very good idea right now.

“This is just something for you to think about, in case you do decide you want to leave.” Thanos said, and walked away from me.

I stared after him until he was out of sight, and then rushed back to the door. My hand slipped off the doorknob. It was locked. “Lo! Can you hear me Lo? Loanna!” I heard nothing behind the door. She couldn’t hear me.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. None of this was supposed to happen. I was supposed to be happy here. I shouldn’t be blackmailed into staying here. Loanna shouldn’t be kept here against her will. This was all my fault. All my fault. I slumped down next to the door and let my tears fall. I needed to fix this. I couldn’t let them get away with this. I needed to get Loanna out of here.

But there was only one person who I could go to help for now. And going to him, would make everything he said true. Thanos and Melody, no Melania, were dark wizards. Not only were they dark wizards, but they are also the reason he had my parent’s scared at night. And the reason why I moved so much when I was younger. The reason why there was a hint of recognition in my mother’s eyes that night I left when she saw Melania. They were the cause of my family’s misfortune.

It was time I talked to Matthaios again.